Drones are a tool of precision. Flying overhead, their cameras scan for targets. The agri-drone is a small-scale adaptation of the same premise. Developed by researchers at Japan's Saga University, the agri-drone scans crops for clusters of bugs, and then delivers a precision dose of pesticide to the plant-eating critters below. And then scans the crops for insects.

Yamaha Motor Co. said Friday that it will launch its first drone for agricultural use in March 2019. The company aims to sell 500 units of the YMR-08 in 2019 and 1,000 units in 2021 amid growing demand for labor savings when it comes to the spraying of pesticides, due to a decline in the number of farmers. It aims to win a 50 percent share of the market for agricultural drones. Yamaha Motor has managed operations involving small remote-controlled helicopters for agricultural use for 30 years. Drones are more suitable than helicopters for use at small farms in cities and mountainous regions, according to the company.

Farmers in China have caught up with the country's booming drone trend and started using unmanned aircraft to spray pesticide onto the fields. Not only that, a team of villagers in central China recently bought 30 of these bug-zapping vehicles in hope of turning it into a new business. Zhu Xiwang and his neighbours said they hoped their squad of agri-drones to could help them start a pest-killing service, according to Huanqiu.com, an affiliation to People's Daily Online. This £24.8K flat pack folding home takes just SIX HOURS to build Pictures show the 30 drones lining up on a field, ready to take off. The unmanned aircraft, known by its model name MG-1S, is produced by Shenzhen-based Da Jiang Innovation, one of the largest drone manufacturers in China.

A Brazilian government commission has recommended easing restrictions on the use of pesticides to aid the country's agricultural industry. Congress will debate the issue shortly. But families in rural areas say the pesticides already in use are contaminating air, food and water, causing death and disease. Already, four of the 10 most commonly used pesticides in Brazil are banned in Europe.

The pesticide is in a class of organophosphates chemically similar to a nerve gas developed by Nazi Germany before World War II. Its heavy use has often left traces in drinking water sources. A University of California at Berkeley study in 2012 found that 87 percent of umbilical-cord blood samples tested from newborn babies contained detectable levels of the pesticide.